Gold

This coming Friday is Lasmi's birthday. Lasmi is the youngest of our two nannies. She will turn 19. According to the lady on staff who is in charge of our staff, she left her town (about a 12 hr drive from here) when she was 16 to start working as a nanny. It is tough to imagine a 16 year old who works upwards of 12 hours per day, 6 days per week for a measly $150 per month. But, that puts her in a 'high end' wage earner bracket.

When asking around for what we should get the nanny the Indonesian staff tells us not to get anything for her. Really, they feel that they are not worthy to enjoy such luxuries. But, there is no convincing Zoe that there will be no birthday gift. Then, in speaking to another Indonesian staff member, she mentioned that many Indonesians by gold when they can. Reason being, they don't go to banks so buying gold jewelry is a way for them to invest. Later, if they need money, they can sell it.

So, off Marni and I went to look for some jewelry for Lasmi. Something we learned today- gold is listed in stores by the weight, not necessarily the price. We saw some gold medallions for sale in a jewelry store (5g, 10g, 25g). Right now, the price of gold is about 325 000 Rp per gram. Try finding some one gram earrings- good luck! Unfortunately for Lasmi, no gold, this year. Apparently, though, there is a market nearby where you can by gold by the gram. I am sure we will find out the 'Bule' price is quite high.